Sidewalk Sensations: Ménage à Palms

In my travels over the course of this weekend, I found this simple tropical planting combination outside of a new condo building. It follows basic rules of design and is simple enough that anyone can do it. Placing the containers at the corner of the building helps soften hard edges of the structure while providing visual interest at the same time. The main entrance to the lobby was located outside of the picture to the right, so the large scale of the planting keeps things in balance.

The container choice itself is brilliant in its subtlety. The neutral dark charcoal color keeps the focus off the containers and allows the plants to make the statement. By using a lighter gray beach stone, the installer of these containers kept the palette similar but still interesting. The stone size is also in correct proportion to the containers and plants. They all lend a tropical, summery feel to the entrance and also have an interesting color focus that isn’t found in the surrounding landscape.

Trio Of Palms

The only thing I would do differently with this combination is switch the position of the two smallest planters. This would allow the purple foliage to be more in contrast with the light stone veneer of the wall while the silver-blue foliage of the fan palm would be highlighted by the dark background of the outside landscaping and porte-cochere.

Article and photography by lilyofthevalley for Jeffrey Erb Landscape Design